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>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." > this is bashar al-ass"bbc wos america." syria's president strikes back. he says he is not responsible for the recent bloodshed. >> i did my best to tell people you should not go guilty would you did your best. you do not feel guilty when you do not kill people. inote ling for oa rev- russia. the recent president said the recent vote should be in a live boy.

coming home. we travel to fort hood, texas, where the joye is tinge with sacrifice. withhe joy is tinged sacrifice. welcome to our viewers on pbs, america, and around the globe. during the past nine months the people of syria have taken to the streets in protest against their government, and over 4000 have paid with their life. in rare television interview with barbara walters, the syrian president, bashar al-assad, flatly denied he ordered the use of brutality. instead blaming the violence on others. paul would starts the coverage -- paul woods starts the coverage. >> day after day unarmed syrian protectors have come out to face machine guns, snipers, and army

vehicles. the costs so far is 4000 dead mom. . but in his abc interview, bashar al-assad did is killing his own citizens. >> we do not killer on people. no government in the world kills its own people, unless it is led by a crazy person. i became president with public support. it is impossible for anyone in this state to be ordered to be killed. >> we saw a different picture in a week of traveling inside syria. the city of homes, catalogs her losses. her son was shot dead and protest the explains. then her grandson was killed by a sniper while all getting brett. -- while out getting bread.

a few days after talking to us, she, too, was shot dead. >> i do not own the country. >> no, but you have to give the order? >> no. >> the crackdown was without your permission? >> there is a difference between policy crackdown and different issues. >> that is just ludicrous as the u.s. state department. the demonstrators would no doubt agree. up to 10 months of this, there is an absolute determination not to give up. people have suffered too much. >> the men of the family are in hiding from the security forces. [inaudible] was held for six weeks. he said he was beaten

continually. stripped naked. threatened with restoration -- castration, threatened with boiling water, but still would not confess. the officer said this dog is not afraid of dying. so hang him by his hand. they did so for five days. a u.n. report says torture is common in syria. >> send us the documents. as long as we do not see the documents and evidence, we cannot say just because the united nations. who says the united nations is a credible institution? >> you do not think the united nations is credible? >> no. >> you have an ambassador of the united nations? >> is a game you play. >> where is all of this going? some have responded to the government crackdown by taking

up arms. the international community is worried that syria is headed into a fully-fledged civil war. the syrian president paid a picture of syria that is completely at odds with the demonstrators that is still big shot down in the streets almost every single day. at the beginning there de blancs were simply for reform. -- ther8irir demands were simply for reform, but now they want the president to go. >> for more on the syrian president's interview, i spoke to a guest. not heard him say he did order the poor quality, but he does not seem to be doing much to stop it either. is he in charge or not? take it he is not in charge of the brutal crackdown, his uncle was not in charge of the massacre of 1982.

i think he is in charge. his story is not familiar. the book ends with him. >> is there someone else as he suggests, when it comes to ordering the army to crack down in this manner? >> he claims there are rogue elements in the military, or even individuals that basically delivered too much. his brother is basically in charge of the military. >> he is lying in that interview, that is what you're saying? >> i believe so, yes. >> why did he agree to do the interview at this particular point? what is it for him? >> it is a wonderful opportunity to show the world he is once again defiant, and that he is not willing to go down without a fight. i see that interview for filling the purpose of not only showing defiance, but it really tells me that things are only going to escalate from now on. >> what do they could bring the

conflict to an end? >> it is really hard to say. i see that syria is a descending toward civil war. there are a lot of indicators showing that. it is only a matter of time, i think, before the protest reaches the capital in the critical mass everyone is talking about. >> what more can the international community do, especially denying the fact that the u.n. has any credibility? what more can the international community do at this point? >> i think before we get into policy options, we really need to know what the syrian people want. i have yet to seek to find positions say we want to their military intervention or other means. at this point is the wheat unclear. >> thank you very much for joining us. -- at this point it is very unclear. there is word from mexico that the son of the former leader muammar gaddafi plan to sneak

into the country with three other relatives. according to the interior minister, the plan to bring saadi gaddafi, was uncovered and stopped by authorities. he is currently in the masiar. meanwhile, the revolution may be over, but militia still rule large parts of the capital city. there were part of the force that helped bring down muammar gaddafi, but a recent upsurge in fighting between them has warned authorities. we report from tripoli. >> they turned out to protect against growing lawlessness in a country awash with weapons. 3.5 months after muammar gaddafi was ousted, they work their way into the capital. there is no proper police force here yet, and no army to keeping secure. the militiamen who control the streets.

sometimes showing their differences by force. >> [inaudible] i saw muammar gaddafi is forces had re-entered tripoli the other night. -- i thought muammar gaddafi's forces had re-entered tripoli the other night there was so much noise. >> the government says it will integrate 50,000 former ripples -- rebels and to new security forces and try to provide jobs for tens of thousands of others. that is the plan, but it will not be easy. >> i, like everyone else, want them to go back home, even the ones from tripoli the new defense minister told us, but they are like children, you give them a toy and it is hard to take it back from them. >> at a hospital, doctors are

now on strike after armed militia drag that an administrator over a dispute on patients' treatment. it is not the first time here medics have been treated. -- have been threatened. now the sick and injured will have to be transported elsewhere. this is the emergency room. doctors say they will not return to work until they have government protection, that they can operate in the current chaos. the intensive care unit is full of patients injured in the violence that has come in the wake. the sole doctor is still at work when we visited. >> all of the patients are from the gun shots. why now? [unintelligible] >> raining in the gunmen responsible is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the new libyan government. critical people here say that

they succeed. >> in other news now from around the world, 19 people were killed in afghanistan today when a il59dle

e wohipers were killed in twin bombings. dozens of funerals were held today across the capitol, and the president visited survivors from the attack in hospitals. the world's major economies have set conditions on the global deal to fight climate change of

u.n.-backed talks being held in south africa. countries have already agreed voluntary domestic changes to ut b k now ut now etinghether the ca aagree on finding an international deal. italian police said they had captured the leader of one of the country's most powerful mafia groups. at he was arrested after 16 years on the run. he was found hiding in an underground bunker in his home in naples. a court in america has sentenced the former governor of illinois, rod blagojevich, to 14 years in prison for corruption, including tried to sell president obama is old senate seat. the judge said he is use the power of his office and engaged in extensive criminal conduct. -- misuesed the power of his

office and is engaged in extensive criminal conduct. gorbachev says it was rigged with enormous amount. earlier i discussed the impact of the protests with an analyst from the center of strategic and international studies. how significant are the protest? >> it remains to be seen, but already that there happening is quite significant. what happened with the parliamentary elections on sunday was the first electoral defeat for vladimir putin. his power has been pretty steady and consistent over the course of the 12 years, and he will have to restock and assess and make some real changes, and you

are starting to see some of that. >> why is that happening now? there was a time when he enjoyed significant popularity in the country. what is fueling this unrest? >> part of it as people get more prosperous and countries get more prosperous, they get rule of law. secondly, i think many russians were taken aback the manner in which he announced he was born to be returning as president back in september. that turned a lot of people off. also, i think there have been a demonstration of fact. -- effect. >> a lot of people are looking at this and say it might be a russian version of the arab spring. the you think it is? >> probably not. things can go by road. -- go viral. this situation can go viral.

right now it looks controllable. the russians are insecure about it by the number of security folks out there. it is a dangerous situation. the good news is that politics has returned to russia. that is refreshing. >> corporate jet said there gorvachev saying theire should be a revote. >> that is unlikely. it is interesting, it is exciting, a little bit unpredictable. most likely vladimir putin emerge as the president in march, but he will not have a plan that addresses the concern of the russian people, which i think has caught him by

surprise. >> very quickly, the you think we will see more protest? >> i think we very well could. this is the third day of protest. there are talks about a larger protest on saturday when more russian people have the day off. >> thank you very much for joining us. you were watching "bbc world news america." still to come, cutting your chances of getting cancer. cut flights by zero choices be the key to cutting off the disease? new research shows interesting answers. summit onhursday's the crisis, president obama has spoken to on deliver coal to reinforce the message of the need for a long-term message of stability. -- on the euro crisis, president obama has spoken to on the angea

merkel. >> the latest drop is the french finance minister rhee. -- stop is the french finance minister. >> we have the same concerns, that is to make sure this crisis of financial nature ends, and to find ways to multiplied our joint efforts so that in the real economy there will be a revival of activity, support for investment, and the creation of jobs. >> timothy that there was cautiously optimistic about the latest grant from france and germany to build a stronger europe. -- timothy geithner was cautiously optimistic about the latest plans from france and germany to build a stronger europe. >> to try to build a stronger architecture for fiscal union coming fiscal compact. >> this is his fourth trip to europe in as many months, an

indication of the alarm in washington. for president obama, seen here at the last of it, his political future may be at stake. a still fragile u.s. economy remains a vulnerable to any financial contagion from europe. the british prime minister also needs europe to succeed, but is under pressure from euro skeptics in his party. he wants measures to protect britain's financial-services. while politicians are grappling with the crisis, the clock is ticking towards friday and another to make or break european summit in brussels. >> fighting cancer is a battle that is being waged worldwide, and now in a new report in the u.k. it suggests many cases could be prevented by making simple lifestyle changes. in fact, the findings show smoking, alcohol, nutrition, and

obesity cause a third of all cancers. the bbc health correspondent, gene hughes, has the details. >> these are magnified cancer cells multiplying at frightening speed. for decades scientists have been searching for the causes of cancer. today's report adds to our understanding of how much the condition is linked to preventable factors. that is something a lain at which she had known earlier. two years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had major surgery. she had no idea of being overweight could be putting her at risk. since then she has transformed her life style. >> it was something that was a big shock to me. i stopped drinking. i did more exercise. i changed portion sizes and types of food i was eating. >> weight is one of the four

major lifestyle risks. by far the biggest is smoking. particularly lung, but also liver and kidney. for men, poor diet. for women it is worse being overweight, responsible for 7 percent signed up cancers, among them breast, you ran, and by wall -- uterine and bowel. over half of all cancers cannot be prevented. they are caused by age or family history. that means however help you are, you cannot eliminate your wrist. >> what this study does not say is if you control all these factors you will guarantee you will never get cancer. when it does say is you can stack of in your favor and reduce the risk vary considerably. >> spending on public health

campaigns like this one has been cautioning. ministers have moved away from trying to change people's behavior is by legislation. >> we can all contribute by talking to our friends and about healthy lifestyles, changing our lifestyles. these are small changes that people need to make, but over a long amount of time. that can make a real difference in terms of the number of cancers. >> because we're living longer, more of us are getting cancer. it is now clear we can have some control over risk. >> this month is the last of the combat troops pulling out of iraq. after nearly nine years, the war has taken a heavy toll. we have travel to fort hood,

texas, and filed this report. >> what i think we should do is two flags adnd appeared well. >> this is where the war began and is now ending. jackie bird's husband has been away for much of the last few years. today he is coming home. >> i think it looks pretty darn good. he was my best friend. he was just not there. he could get in touch with us, but when we needed him it was not always easy for us to get ahold of him. that was probably the hardest part of the whole year. >> few question the value of the mission that was america's war of choice based on the weapons of -- the threat of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. today is about something far more personal, reunion.

within a few weeks all the troops will have left iraq and most home for christmas. for every one of the 300 or so men and women that return today, there were many more who never came back. >> if the memorial is a pretty somber reminder of the sacrifice over the last eight years. 4.5000 troops have lost their lives in a conflict that still is not over. 4500 troops have lost their lives in a conflict that still is not over. bernie lost his leg in a roadside bomb. four years later the pain in his other leg is also so that he will have to have it removed. his mailing is -- marriage failed. >> i have to ask whether you

think it is worth it? >> yes, i do. i feel like we hoped the iraqi people. i feel like it will be turbulent times, but i feel like what we did was the right thing to do. >> president obama may have wanted to keep the soldiers, but the war had become unpopular. he can still claim credit for ending it deeply flawed campaign in finally bringing the troops home. abc news, fort hood, texas. -- bbc news, fort hood, texas. >> president eleanor roosevelt famously claimed december 7, 1941, as a date that will go down in infamy. that is after the attack on pearl harbor. that marked america's entry into world warii. -- into world war ii.

today many celebrations were held around the world. here are some of the sights and sounds -- ♪ [star spangled banner playing] >> uss nevada, uss tennessee, uss arizona. ♪

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